Optimization of a chemical modifier in the determination of selenium by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry and its application to wheat and wheat flour analysis.

A method for the determination of total selenium in wheat and wheat flour using graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) with palladium/ascorbic acid as a chemical modifier was studied. The effects of nickel nitrate, palladium/ascorbic acid, and palladium/magnesium nitrate as chemical modifiers on the sensitivity in the determination of selenite, selenate and selenomethionine by GFAAS were compared. The palladium/ascorbic acid modifier was used for the determination of total selenium in wheat and wheat flour, because the oxidation states of the selenium ion are not important in the determination. The detection limit was estimated to be 1 microg L(-1) (calculated as 3sigma of the blank); the calibration curve was linear for the concentration range 5 - 50 microg L(-1) and the recovery range was 96.66 - 101.80%. The optimal ashing and atomizing temperatures were 1300 degrees C and 2250 degrees C, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of total selenium in wheat and wheat flour.     

Fluorescence Modulation and Photochromism in Azobismaleimide Derivatives

A fluorophore-photochrome system incorporating an aryleneimine type fluorophore and an azobismaleimide photochrome was developed and the photochemical properties of this system were investigated. The photoisomerization of trans-azoaromatic chromophore leads to the increase of the fluorescence intensity of fluorophore. The cis azobismaleimide isomers revert photochemically to the trans form and the emission intensity decreases. The fluorescence intensity of the imine fluorophore can be modulated under irradiation with UV and visible (436 nm) light due to reversible trans-cis-trans photoisomerization of azobismaleimide partner. The photoisomerization kinetics was obeyed a first-order relationship with a rate constant of 1.95?×?10^?2 s^?1 for azobismaleimide/imine fluorophore system and for polyazothioetherimide/imine derivative the kinetics was described by a biexponential equation.     

A Mössbauer study of the cobalt coated hematite

The 0.05 (wt%) Co-coated hematite having cigar-shaped particles was investigated by means of Mössbauer effect at temperatures between 77 K and 300 K by ascending and descending temperatures, respectively. The Mössbauer spectra indicated the coexistence of two distinct magnetic phases below 223 K or 232 K, depending on the starting point. The angle between the spin direction and the crystallographic trigonal axis was calculated taking into account the quadrupole splitting values.     

Fluorescence spectra and homogeneous line widths of Cr in glass nucleating ferroelectric Li2Ge7O15

We report optical studies of the new material – Cr³⁺-doped lithium–germanate glass, containing Li₂Ge₇O₁₅ (LGO) nanocrystalline particles. While only broadband ⁴T₂–⁴A₂ fluorescence from the low-field octahedral Cr³⁺ sites was observed from Cr³⁺ ions in the glass, in LGO nanocrystals high-field Cr³⁺ centers emit ²E–⁴A₂ (R–lines) fluorescence. The process of crystallization in the course of isothermal annealing of glasses was monitored spectroscopically and the nucleation of LGO crystallites was observed starting from the smallest clusters. Using the ²E–⁴A₂ fluorescence spectra it is possible to detect the ferroelectric phase transition in LGO:Cr³⁺ nanocrystals, whose critical temperature was found to be similar to that of the bulk crystals. Long-lived spectral holes were burned in the inhomogeneously broadened R-lines of Cr³⁺ in LGO nanocrystals at low temperatures. The linear temperature dependence of hole widths shows that the homogeneous broadening of ⁴A₂–²E transitions of Cr³⁺ in nanocrystals is due to interaction of Cr³⁺ electronic levels with the two-level systems (TLS) of the surrounding glass. The range of the Cr³⁺-TLS elastic dipole–dipole interaction is estimated.     

Synthesis and characterization of new complexes of some divalent transition metals with 2-acetyl-pyridyl-isonicotinoylhydrazone

Ten new mononuclear complexes having general formulae [ML₂](ClO₄)₂, M = Cu(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Mn(II) and Zn(II), [ML₂](SO₄), M = Co(II), Ni(II) and [ML₂(H₂O)₂](SO₄), M = Cu(II), Mn(II) and Zn(II), L = 2-acetyl-pyridyl-isonicotinoylhydrazone have been synthesized and characterized based on elemental analyses, IR spectroscopy, UV–Vis–NIR, EPR, as well as thermal analysis and determination of molar conductivity and magnetic moments. The structures of [CoL₂](ClO₄)₂ are accomplished by single crystal X-ray diffraction. The coordination sphere is formed by two N, N, O tridentates 2-acetyl-pyridyl-isonicotinoylhydrazone ligands, or by two N, O bidentate 2-acetyl-pyridyl-isonicotinoylhydrazone and two water molecules. Biological activity studies reveal a moderate activity of complexes against gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria.     

Electronic and Optical Properties of Some Polysulfone-Polydimethylsiloxane Copolymers in Thin Films

Polysulfone (PSF)-polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) block copolymers (PSF-b-PDMS) with various compositions were prepared by condensing chloro-terminated polysulfone oligomers with α, ω -dihydrogensilyl-polydimethylsiloxane in refluxing chlorobenzene solution in the presence of urea as a hydrogen chloride acceptor. The temperature dependences of the electrical conductivity and thermoelectric power (Seebeck coefficient) of copolymers were studied using thin films deposited from a dimethylformamide solution (spin coating method) onto glass substrates. It was established that the various copolymers showed typical semiconducting properties. Some correlations between these properties (activation energy, ratio of carrier mobilities, etc) and molecular structure of the copolymers were found. A model based on band gap representation was found to be suitable for explanation of the electronic transport mechanism through the studied copolymers in thin films. The study of the transmission and absorption spectra (in the spectral range from 300 nm to 1400 nm) evidenced that the indirect allowed optical transitions were predominant. The values of the optical energy band gap (ranged between 1.50 eV and 1.70 eV) are in agreement with values of width of the forbidden band calculated from the temperature dependence of the electrical conductivity.     

Synthesis of block copolymers derived from N-trityl-(S)-serine and pyrene end-labeled poly(methyl methacrylate) or poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) via ATRP

A new monomer bearing N-trityl-l-serine methyl ester in structure, methacryloyloxyethyl carbamoyloxy–N-trityl methyl serine (MTS), was prepared to be further polymerized by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) with pyrene-endcapped poly(methyl methacrylate) (Py–PMMA–Br) or poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (Py–PNIPA–Br). The resulting block copolymers, poly(methyl methacrylate–block–methacryloyloxyethyl carbamoyloxy–N-trityl methyl serine) (Py–PMMA–b–PMTS) and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide–block–methacryloyloxyethyl carbamoyloxy–N-trityl methyl serine (Py–PNIPA–b–PMTS) were characterized by ¹H (¹³C) NMR, ultraviolet, FTIR and fluorescence spectroscopy, thermal analysis, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), atomic force microscopy (AFM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and gel permeation chromatography (GPC) measurements. The chemical composition in Py–PMMA–b–PMTS was estimated from the ¹H NMR analysis that indicated a ratio of the repeating units of 46:19 (MMA:MTS). For the Py–PNIPA–b–PMTS the composition rate in the copolymer was 61:25 (NIPA:MTS). Quenching of the pyrene species with N,N-diethylaniline, nitrobenzene, nitrophenol, potassium iodide, p-nitrotoluene and tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) in DMF solution excited at 348 nm was evidenced, more efficiently being nitrophenol and TCNQ. In this case, the monomer emission at 388–409 nm underwent a significant decrease caused of an electron transfer from the electron-reach photoexcited pyrene molecule to the electron-deficient quenchers.